Decreasing Marketing; Increasing Sales

Most companies I help receive incoming enquiries - via the telephone line, emails, exhibitions, the list goes on.

None of these companies convert 100% of those enquiries into a sale. Of course, 100% conversion is pushing it a bit! However – there’s no doubt that all of these companies had potential to increase their conversion rate, in many cases by a considerable amount.

A company in particular comes to mind. They took enquiries mainly by phone and converted 25% of these enquiries into an individual average order value of £997 – we’ll round this up to £1000 for ease of telling the story.

Sales in volume were slightly over 10,000 a year so we’re talking about a £10m company here.

Having been called in to help, my first thoughts were what a crying shame that a massive 75% of sales enquiries were coming to nothing. Even sadder was that many of the 75% non-buyers were deemed ‘time wasters’ by the staff. I cringe at those words – in my book there’s no such thing as a time waster in sales and terming them as such reflects more on the seller than the potential buyer.

Within six weeks we’d got the conversion rate up to 27%. Now you might think that’s not much of an increase – and you’d be right. BUT – just this 2% increase in conversion rates equated to an annual increase in turnover of £800,000. Needless to say the training was deemed a big success.

The moral of the story? Don’t spend massive amounts of money on marketing when all you have to do is make better use of the leads that you’re already getting - sales success will follow.

How to increase conversion rates?

Here are a few pointers.

1.      Ban the use of the words ‘time wasters’! I’m serious. Using this word in a sales environment engenders an underlying unconscious disrespect for potential buyers. I firmly believe that no one has got time these days to be a time waster – there must have been SOME level of interest for them to pick up the phone – check out a website etc.

2.      Get technology in that can track enquiries and respond to them. This could be web analytics, a more sophisticated CRM, whatever it takes to know exactly who’s showing an interest – and which enables you to have a low cost follow up.

3.      Connect! Yes I know some of this is very basic but...! It works. We found out at the company in question that their company was on average one of three that the potential customer contacted before making a decision. There were about 5 major players in their market at the time – and not much to choose between them in terms of product and price. So who do you think was going to get the business? YES – the one to whom the prospect felt most connected.

4.      Connection is made through general rapport building and lots of curiosity – in sales terms known as good old fashioned open questions.

5.      Structure. I’ll never be an advocate of scripts on telephone calls – I hate them – but a little structure can help considerably. So make sure you give the staff the guidance they need to succeed on the call.

6.      Follow up when you’ve quoted. I can’t believe how many companies quote for business and then never follow up with at least a courtesy phone call. This is not hounding people – as a certain company’s ‘sales’ staff once suggested. This is called customer service, which, if we’re lucky, might catch on! If you don’t fancy following up quotes, you might want to consider an alternative career. Referring to suggestion 3, if you’re one of three companies that have quoted for a sale and you’re the only one that follows up, doesn’t that indicate a level of interest on your part that others haven’t matched?

There are of course another hundred+ tips on increasing sales and following up enquiries – but if you do these and do them well enough, your selling skills and your sales conversions will increase.

Converted yet?

Leigh Ashton
www.sales-consultancy.com
020 7903 5426
results@sales-consultancy.com

PS; Download my Free Report - The 9 Biggest Sales Mistakes You See Others Making

Sales Success?: Their Chunk Size Does Matter!

Sales Success?: Their Chunk Size Does Matter!

Have you ever been at a meeting when someone is talking about his or her vision for the organisation and somebody interrupts to announce that there are no loo rolls in the gents? Have you ever been bored at a presentation – you wanted an over view and got War and Peace?

Some people only want a brief outline of the situation. Others want to know all the details and more! That’s why some people emerge from meetings and presentations complaining they haven’t been told enough, whilst others, at the same meeting might argue they are weighed down with too much minutia. Some people like an over view, others seek detail.

How has this cost you in the past?
You will more than likely have been demonstrating your unconscious personal preference, whatever the needs of those you are communicating with. So if you’re an over view person, you’re likely be reluctant to go into detail, thus leaving those small chunkers frustrated that they haven’t anything like the information they need. On the other hand, if you’re a detail person, some of your presentations and communication might well have your audience bored to bits if they only ever wanted an over view.

So…
To attain the very best connection it’s essential you get to know the chunk size of anyone you’re communicating with – customers, prospects, colleagues, suppliers. People have different needs as far as the level of detail they thrive on is concerned. If you get it right, sales success will follow. Get it wrong and, quite simply you could be losing sales.

Which is best?
There is no best – but there is certainly a best for the situation and your key to increasing sales is knowing when to ‘chunk up’ or ‘chunk down’. This means leaving your own personal preferences aside. Go into the ‘map’ of the person you’re communicating with and go with their flow. Your flexibility is your key to better rapport, better connections and better conversion rates.
Remember, too many details will confuse a big chunker and too much vagueness will upset a small chunker. Give each the level they need.

How to find out
When you’re next communicating with anyone, pay special notice to the level of detail they display when they’re talking. If they’re vague, give short answers and obviously don’t do the small talk, it’s clear that the best way is to respond in kind. Likewise if they go into detail, you need to too. In my experience many sales people find it hard to leave their own map, so that’s the key. LISTEN – and respond.

Where else is this useful?
If you manage a team, take notice of how your team members differ. By responding accordingly you can look forward to better connections with your team with all the gains that can bring. Likewise your colleagues at meetings and in general conversation. Your general sales management skills can only improve.

I look forward to hearing your big chunk/small chunk feedback! In the level of detail you prefer of course.

Leigh Ashton
www.sales-consultancy.com
020 7903 5426
results@sales-consultancy.com

7 Autumn Sales Tips

There’s certainly never a dull moment as far as the economy is concerned.

The economists and statisticians pour over the latest data, trying to explain away the pro’s and con’s of the employment figures, growth trends, how the Italy/Greece/USA (delete as appropriate!) ‘crisis’ will affect the UK and so on.

What to do?

Rise above it! That doesn’t mean ignore it - you need to know what’s going on in the world. Your mantra needs to be ‘ok, so all that’s happening in the economy, how can I best respond to achieve sales success?’

To help - here’s 7 Sales Tips for Autumn


7 Autumn Sales Tips


1 Get the GOAL right

Yes that old chestnut. Powerful goal setting -and how to keep on track to achieve them - is one of the most talked about subjects in sales and personal development land.

Everyone has individual techniques to try to master the art of setting goals. You might like to try this one…jump ahead in time and Imagine it’s (‘insert date’).

Think to yourself ‘If Only I’d….’ Whatever big stuff comes to mind - that’s your focus for the period you chose. Useful - and particularly if you’re a little on the ‘glass half empty’ side of life.


2 Inject some FUN!

Seriously. Fun is a must for increasing sales. Some say that sales is not much fun these days. Well it’s up to you to re-install your fun formula! First - get more fun into YOUR life; watch a stand up comedian; watch your fave comedy TV show; read a joke book - anything to get you laughing more.

If you’re in sales management this is important to use with your team.
Then when your with a prospect you’ll feel better equipped to make them smile, putting them at ease and creating an atmosphere full of rapport.


3 Get in a TIP TOP STATE!

What’s your inner state today? If you’re feeling positive & motivated to get stuff done then celebrate & have a fantastic day.

If you’re feeling a bit flat or negative, go for a short break, look up & smile the biggest smile you can.

Changing your physiology is a brilliantly easy way to change your state. Changing your physiology will improve your selling skills 100%

Think about all the things you are grateful for & focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want!


4 Get MOTIVATED!

Ask yourself…Do I believe that what I’m selling is the best? Is my company the best? Are my work habits the best?

Am I letting outside pressures get in the way? Am I really taking care of mysefl?

Yes there’s an economic slowdown, but before you blame ‘it’, take a look at ‘you’. Make sure you’re fir for purpose!


5 Do it NOW!

Many people have ONE task to do that they continually avoid. Ring any bells? Yet when they eventually do it they find out it wasn’t that bad after all and they feel great for doing it.

So what’s that ONE TASK that you have been putting off that’s beginning to haunt you?

Go - Do it today - You’ll feel so much better by tonight. Go Go Go!


6 Do the RIGHT THING!

You can always find stuff to do to keep you busy but how useful is the stuff you do at generating sales? Focus on Income Producing Activity before all other tasks and you will increase your sales.

Remember also that if you focus on getting tasks done you may forget the purpose of the task…it’s not about getting through the calls/visits it’s about connecting with people and either starting or developing the relationship.


7 Happy Customers? - Get a REFERRAL!

When was the last time you asked for a referral? If you’re currently doing work for someone NOW is the time to ask.

Just finished working for someone? Ask quickly before it’s too late.
Ask your top customers. Referrals are free. Referrals are quick. I challenge you to ask for at least one before the end of today. Go Go Go!


Leigh Ashton

http://www.sales-consultancy.com/
020 7903 5426
leigh@sales-consultancy.com

Closing a Sale in 5 Minutes

How frustrating is it when you put in lots of hard work for little or no reward?

Perhaps you’ve been working on a tender for a big contract only to see it cancelled, or awarded to a competitor? Or you’ve given a fabulous sales presentation, only for the meeting to grind towards its end with no sign of closing a sale?

Maybe you’ve quoted and you just can’t get an answer no matter how often you contact them? What about when you think you’ve been fobbed off - they probably don’t want your products but they won’t tell you outright so you keep contacting them ‘just in case’?

We’ve all been there - it’s frustrating and time consuming. The dilemma - do you chase old ‘maybe’ business or spend more time generating new enquiries?

Closing a Sale in 5 Minutes…

The Issue
The meeting’s gone well. You’ve got a fabulous connection with your prospect. Rapport levels are high. They seem attentive. They seem interested. You’ve impressively answered some minor objections that came your way. Yet there’s something that’s holding you back from asking outright for the business.

What to do next?

The Solution
Three Killer Questions. Before you embark on the first question, make sure you have good levels of rapport with your prospect. If there is any ‘edge’ present, these questions won’t work. With fabulous rapport, they always deliver.

So, back to your meeting. It’s coming to an end and you need to close the sale.

Question Number 1
At the end of your conversation, ask:

On a scale from 1 to 10 – 1 meaning “it’s over…don’t darken our door again” and 10 meaning “we want you to start straight away”…where would you say we are?

THEN…SHUT UP! This is critical to ensure you give the silence that allows your contact to think.
Give them time. Allow your prospect to respond. They will give you a number. Don’t be too attached to the number. The golden nugget is their response to the next question.

Question Number 2
 Ask…

What would need to happen to get us to a 10?

SHUT UP! Again…this is critical. Give them more time to think.

Allow your prospect to respond.

You have now identified the gap between what you’re offering and what your client needs from you before they can say ‘yes’. You now know how close you are to securing the deal.

If you are able to resolve the gap immediately you’ll be able to close the deal there and then.
Some answers will alert you that these prospects are unlikely to ever buy. Disappointing yes but good to know there and then not several weeks and many follow ups later.

Question Number 3
Open question.

What would you like me to do next?

Their answer is usually like all the jigsaw pieces falling into place. They are explaining exactly what the next course of action is - talking as if you’re already on board.

Agree on the next course of action and be sure to maintain your control by agreeing when you will get back to them.

Asking these questions will change your sales results! They identify how close you are to a sale, they identify how big the gap is - and exactly what you need to do to bridge the gap. And you both decide whether or not you have the means to bridge the gap. All usually in a few minutes.

By slightly tweaking these questions you can use the ‘out of ten’ technique in other situations - for example staff appraisals and job satisfaction surveys come to mind.

Hope this technique brings you lots of success.

Leigh Ashton
www.sales-consultancy.com
020 7903 5426
leigh@sales-consultancy.com

Stop Your Procrastination NOW (not later!)

Years ago, we were (and still are being) introduced to all these labour saving devices. All this meant we'd have lots more time on our hands to enjoy life, enjoy our friends and families and live a life of ongoing leisure.

So what happened then? Everyone I meet is as busy as ever trying to make a living and it's taking more time than ever!

Which means we cannot afford to procrastinate, yet it's a very common admission of attendees on every training and mentoring programme I deliver. We know it holds us back but...

So - high time to take a look at procrastination - and not put it off any more!!

Procrastination is one of the biggest enemies you have when it comes to sales and marketing. Thinking about what you need to do to get that business in is all very well - taking the first step towards your objective is critical.

Putting off the least productive items in your day is a useful talent. Putting off the crucial stuff is a bad move. Your productivity goes right down, your achievements are zilch and before you know where you are you're stressed.

What to do about it?...

Here are six pointers to help you overcome procrastination.

1. Plan your day before your day!
It's an old cliche but people don't plan to fail - they do sometimes fail to plan. Without a plan of action in place before you arrive for work it’s too easy to get caught up in ‘stuff’. The phone rings, someone pops into the office and you spend your time responding to the loudest voices rather than to the most important priorities. A plan of action, prepared the night before is like a roadmap for the next day. You know what your next step needs to be to get you into productive action and away from procrastination. With a prioritised plan, you hit the ground running and get early momentum to your day.

2. Work with a clean desk.
Get organised. When I mentor business owners, managers and sales people, the desks they operate from are often filled with files stacked so high they're a health and safety hazard. Often accompanied by empty drinks cups, sandwich crumbs, half the world's supply of sticky notes, it goes on.

No No No. If you're serious about working to your utmost potential and actually achieving results on an efficient, consistent basis, you've got to be organised and look organised. A cluttered desk sends a signal - to your own mind and to others around you.

Cut the chances of distraction, get a decent filing system, get rid of old stuff, so that you can concentrate on one IMPORTANT thing at a time on your desk.

3. Reduce large projects to bite-sized pieces.
Can't face that big project? Then break it down into smaller chunks so you chip away over time. Work out when your deadline is. Impose your own if you need to - and work out how much time you need to spend on this project each week, day and so on.

Be sure to plan for interruptions. Most people get them, so expect them and assess your required time accordingly. For example, tomorrow you plan to work on a three-hour project. Build in four hours to your timetable as, unless you are very lucky, you'll have to deal with interruptions, meetings, etc.

Leading personal development guru Brian Tracy suggests you 'Eat That Frog' first thing in the morning, meaning get the most challenging or unappetising tasks out of the way first thing. If you have two frogs staring at you, eat the ugliest one first! You'll have a much better day rather than letting those frogs stare at you all day until you 'get round to them'.

4. Plan around interruptions.
Interruptions tend to occur in identifiable patterns. You may get most of your interruptions early in the day rather than later in the day. You may get most of your interruptions early in the week rather than later in the week. So, if you plan a big project make sure it works with your normal schedule of activity – don’t create stress for yourself before you begin. As soon as your interruptions arrive they will re-focus your attention, causing you to procrastinate what you really want to do. It’s so much easier swimming downstream with the current rather than bucking the tide. Therefore, plan those larger projects for quieter times of your day and week when you tend to get fewer interruptions. And if you can and really need to - ask for no interruptions. Trade this for a period when you commit to being available for others later in the day

5. Assign deadlines.
Have you ever failed to achieve a New Year's resolution? If so, that probably happened because you didn’t set a deadline. Deadlines will move you to action. Without a deadline, things end up in our ‘soon as possible’ pile, a Never Never Land where items might get attended to someday, when you get the time. Create a deadline and you will be moved to action.

6. FBI
When prioritising your work, ask yourself, what's the FBI here - The Fastest Business Impact? This will help concentrate the mind on what you really should be doing. Keep checking in with the FBI test and you'll notice an impact on your sales.

Leigh Ashton

http://www.sales-consultancy.com/

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7 Steps to Action

Frequently during my sales workshops I get asked “what’s the biggest contribution to success?” Now that's a tough question to answer. There are so many things that determine whether you are destined for success. If I had to pick one, it would probably be taking ACTION. Without it, you will never get the results you want.

I'm reminded of the quote 'All know the way; few actually walk it' (Bodhidharma). We're all guilty of not doing the stuff we know we should be doing.

So if you’re procrastinating on ACTIONS that you know will better your results, this exercise could really get you moving.

7 Steps to ACTION

Get yourself a writing pad and a pen you like writing with! Take your time in answering the following questions as fully as you can.

1. Write down one thing that you are procrastinating with

2. Come up with 10 reasons why you must change this now

3. What will it cost you if you don’t make this change?

4. What will you gain from this change?

5. How do you know you can absolutely make this change?

6. Create a new association with this change

For example - If you’re not making enough calls you may have an association that not making calls equals less rejection…a new association might be that making more calls equals more chances to make sales and all the kudos and money that comes with that.

7. What is your first action that you can do immediately?

This exercise will really get you in touch with the motivation to take ACTION towards what you want.

It’s great to hear how you make these strategies work for you, so please do let us know how you get on.

Leigh Ashton
The Sales Consultancy

There's No Such Thing as Failure - ask Sepp Blatter

Has Sepp Blatter failed at FIFA - or just received some timely feedback? I'd love to ask him!

There’s no such thing as Failure...
Just results! Some results you'll like. Some results you don't like. The key thing is to learn from each of your experiences.

The world is full of people who endured several setbacks before ultimately achieving success on a massive scale. Walt Disney was fired by his local newspaper because 'he lacked imagination and had no good ideas', before suffering severe setbacks in several businesses. Eventually he found a recipe that worked.

Even Henry Ford's early business career floundered as he went broke five times trying to get a business model that worked.

What did Walt Disney, Henry Ford and thousands of others have in common?

They learned from their setbacks. They ultimately succeeded because they learned from each and every time things went wrong.

So 'There's no such thing as failure' stands the test of time because it’s true. We can learn from all our experiences...good and bad. So - no failure, just a result you didn’t want, a mere stepping stone to success!

Action?
If something goes fantastically well – bottle it! Learn what it was that contributed the most to that success. You need to identify the winning formulas and then replicate them.

What if something did not go well at all? Celebrate! You'll learn more here than when you succeed. Think about the steps you took, the use of resources, the timing and every other detail that made up the result. What could you have done differently that could have made a difference?

Get feedback
Where do you get your feedback from? Who tells you how you are doing? Do you plough a lone furrow, never really thinking about it? Or are you inundated with 'feedback' from well meaning but ultimately unhelpful would be business mentors?

Welcome feedback. Get it from wherever you can. Ask for it. Ask yourself and others ‘what could I have done better?’ When people give you feedback, take it graciously. Don’t try to justify your actions, just learn from these lovely people that are kind enough and care enough to be helping you this way.

It comes down to you though - what mechanisms have you got in place to take the learns from your successes? And how are you going to dig down and find out how to avoid replicating that poor meeting, that lost sale, that unsuccessful pitch?

Example
Think about a meeting or interaction that didn’t go well.

Ask yourself the following questions:

* Was I clear on my direction and focus throughout?
* How successful was I in opening the discussion?
* Was the client at ease and able to talk freely?
* Did I collect all the information needed?
* Did I impart all relevant information?
* Did I collect information in sufficient detail?
* Did I provide clear understandable information to the client?
* Did the discussion flow smoothly from one topic to another, without awkward pauses?
* Was I courteous, tactful, etc?
* How did I show I was listening?
* Did I ask open-ended questions and expand where necessary?
* Did I ask leading questions or answer my own questions?
* Did I talk too much?
* Did I listen?
* How successful was I in closing the discussion?
* Does the client know what is to happen next?
* Did I achieve my outcome?

This check list can be used equally as effectively for up and coming meetings. For each question above ask 'How can I...' before using the same points above. Prior thinking along these lines will definitely set your unconscious mind in action to make sure you meet your imagined objectives.

So - build up your personal feedback and monitoring skills and make sure that in years to come the feedback you learn now is the springboard to massive future success.

You deserve it!

Leigh Ashton

http://www.sales-consultancy.com/

Get Mental: Are You Fit To Sell?

Companies are storing record cash amounts. They're hoarding their revenues for more rainy days ahead. They're spending little at the moment. They're making do.

One day though - one day they'll will be ready to spend big. Their cash reserves are colossal - after all, profits have held up well and companies have cut out lots of costs.

But when they do decide to spend, YOU have to be right up there in their consciousness, right in the forefront of their thinking, if you are going to maximise the inevitable opportunities that are going to arise.

Well then - are you ready? Have you got what it takes? How motivated are you? What state are you in?

Where will you be when the gold rush starts?

Your answers to these and other similar questions will determine your success as we come out of the economic downturn.

So for our latest Tricks of The Trade we look at 'The Inner You'. Remember - you cannot succeed and make it happen on the outside before you've already made it happen on the inside.


Have the Right Mind State

Your mind and body are part of the same interactive system. What you're thinking will determine your behavior so you need to be thinking positive, motivating thoughts. If you find your thinking or internal dialogue is not helpful to your state you need to change it - and FAST.

Think about times when you were in the flow, sales were easy, conversations flowed and you felt great. It feels great doesn't it?

What about when things didn't go that well, you weren't moving forward, something stopped you from taking action. How did you feel during those times?
The objective is to stay in that first, happy productive state, and if you find yourself less resourceful, to change back into that productive state quickly and easily. Put simply you will achieve more sales and success generally from being in a positive state.


Anchoring

So how can you capture and draw on the best bits? Anchoring is the technique which enables you to recall those moments when you were totally motivated, lock them in, and recall them when required. It sounds simple and it is and by following the exercise below you can have an effective anchor available to you in minutes.

Limiting beliefs

A big subject, very important too. For now take notice of those things you say to yourself that are not helping you. That little voice inside, that makes you doubt your ability and stops you from taking action, or the right action. Some people call it their inner critic.

You need to take on that inner critic. After all - how many of the messages it gives you are based on fact? Not many usually. Yet these negative thoughts promote your limiting beliefs, in turn stopping you performing at your peak. So notice those messages from within, and where they came from.

Remember - sales come when you are in a really great state. Oh and smile too. It's really difficult to do 'depressed' when you're smiling! Sales isn't a process, or about what you say. It starts in your head and how you're feeling. Get that right and you will succeed in sales.


1 Anchoring Exercise

Think of a time when the conversation flowed, when you were in deep rapport and felt unstoppable. Get right into that moment, turn it up - and bottle it. Then think of another great selling moment and do the same. And again, three times in all. Design yourself an anchor to lock in the fabulous state you are now in - maybe a piece of music, maybe a clap of your hand, something that, later by playing the music, or clapping in the same way, you can reproduce that motivated and unstoppable feeling.


2 Countering limiting beliefs exercise

During the course of a day, notice those negative statements you think and say. Write them down. For each limiting belief write down three counter examples to each. Three examples which demonstrate the limiting belief not to be true. This will shake the roots of those limiting beliefs and ultimately eradicate them.


Summary

- Your thoughts will determine your behaviour and your results
- To maximise your potential you need to stay in, or get in, a happy productive state
- Anchoring is a powerful tool to capture and retain and reproduce those moments when you are most motivated and resourceful
- Limiting Beliefs are those inner voices that tell you what you cannot do or struggle to do
- Limiting beliefs should be countered and destroyed to achieve maximum sales success

Please get in touch with any questions or comments you may have.

Until next time

Leigh Ashton

Increasing Your Sales

The Sales Consultancy

Sales Unlocked: Know Your Sales Direction Filters

Do You Know Your Customers’ and Prospects’ 'Sales Direction' Filters?

Knowing the Sales Direction Filters of your customers and prospects is crucial to increasing your conversions and generating all round improvements in customer relationships. At The Sales Consultancy we think they're vital in business and could not imagine our customer relationships without this knowledge.

So what is a Sales Direction Filter?

Some of you will be motivated towards goals and challenges. If that’s you it’s unlikely that you notice the things that might get in your way…and if you do you just deal with them! You focus on what you want (Towards Filter).

Others amongst you are more acutely aware of the obstacles and problems that get in your way and will develop strategies to avoid or eliminate them! You focus on what you don’t want (Away From Filter).

You will be either motivated towards the carrot or away from the stick. What is it for you?

Whatever it is, the likelihood is that when you are talking to prospects or clients you will be naturally inclined to focus on your preference. Depending on your own ‘towards’ or ‘away from’ inclination you will either talk about solutions and what a relationship with you will do for them…or the problems you will eliminate for them.

What happens when your prospect has the opposite preference to you? There you are, talking about solutions and your prospect is thinking about his problems…or you’re talking about the problems you will resolve for them and your prospect is thinking about what he wants to gain from you.

You may as well be talking a foreign language! You need to focus on their preference in order to gain rapport and identify what it is they really want to buy – gains? or pain relief?.

Ask and Listen. Your clients and prospects will give you clues to their preference in their language.

Ask your clients why they buy from you. Whatever their first answer is ask them why that’s important to them. Do the same for the second and third answers they give. Weigh up the answers. Was every answer about the gains they get (towards)? Or were all the answers all about the pain you relieve for them (away from)? Or a mix?

You will soon start to notice trends in their language as they talk about what they get, or need in a business relationship with you?

Once you have identified their preference be sure that you focus on either the pleasures you will deliver or the pains you will remove. For those that are ‘towards’, you should emphasise their goals and outcomes, promoting the benefits, letting them know you will help them to get what they want. When selling to ‘away from’ people, emphasise what they don’t want and that you can help them avoid what they don’t want. Reassure them that their problems can be decreased or eliminated.

Be sure to use this approach in your written communication too. If you are communicating with more than one person at once be sure to focus on both.

Getting this right is crucial. You will definitely increase your sales by incorporating both approaches.

Leigh Ashton
020 7903 5426
The Sales Consultancy

Have You Set Your 2011 Goals Yet?

Happy New Year!

If all has gone to plan you will have had a wonderful break and have started 2011 fully recharged and ready to make this year a glittering success.

If December was all about looking back and evaluating your 2010 successes, challenges and learnings, January is very much about looking forward to 2011.

January is a great month for setting GOALS.

In 1979 Harvard MBA students were asked 'Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?'

Only 3% had written goals and plans; 13% had goals but not in writing; 84% had no goals at all.

Ten years later these students were interviewed again. The 13% who had set goals (but not in writing) in 1979 were earning on average twice as much as the 84% who had not set goals. The 3% who had set clear, written goals were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97%!

So whether your aims are financial, personal, social, whatever, be sure to set clear goals, write them down and most important of all - TAKE ACTION!

Creating Dynamic Goals
Well-defined goals are vital in all elements of business. The following process is one I use in business and personally. Work through the questions and remember that your initial response is normally the most useful.

Stated in the positive
What do I want?

The evidence
What would be my evidence that I have achieved my goal?
How would I know if I were getting my goal?
What would I be doing to get it?
What would I be seeing/hearing/feeling?
What would be a demonstration of it?

The specifics
Where do I want this goal?
Where do I not want this goal?
When do I want this goal?
When do I not want this goal?
With whom do I want this goal?
With whom do I not want this goal?

The actions
What resources can I activate to get this goal?
What resources can I acquire to get this goal?
What can I do?
What can I continue doing?

The future
What will happen if I get this goal?
How will getting this goal affect other aspects of my life?
How does getting this goal benefit me?
What might I lose if it happens?

These questions will really help you define your goals and give you the motivation and a framework to achieve them.

Good luck with your 2011 goal setting. Bear in mind further research on goal setting which concludes that your goal setting will be more effective if you;

- Take action immediately and often to achieve them (obvious but...)
- Tell a supportive friend/colleague/mentor what those goals are
- Regularly update this person on the progress to achieving your goals

Wishing you a happy, healthy and very successful 2011.

Leigh Ashton
The Sales Consultancy
020 7903 5426

Register here for Free Sales Tips

The Sales Consultancy

How Was Your 2010?

December is a great month for reflection. 2010 has been a challenging year for some and a great year for others! At The Sales Consultancy we're glad to say we've had our busiest December for years.

Whatever kind of year you’ve had - now is the time to reflect and learn.

The following questions will help you identify the good stuff - so you can do more of it and learn from the things that didn’t go quite so well.

Remember - if you have friends or colleagues that would benefit from these tips, feel free to pass them on. They can also register direct here.

So - What did you learn from 2010?

You can learn positive things from everything that happens. If something goes really well, what was it that made it a success? When something goes badly, what could you have done differently to get a better result?

Take a notebook, find a quiet space and ask yourself the following questions. The answers will help you create your strategy for 2011.

Great Stuff
List all the great stuff you did this year. For each one ask:

-What was your focus?
-What actions did you take?
-What personal qualities did you use to achieve success?
-What strengths did you draw upon?
-Who else was involved in this success?
-What qualities did they bring?
-In what other areas or situations could you use this strategy?


Not so Great Stuff
List all the not so great stuff you did this year. For each one ask:

-What was your focus?
-What actions did you take?
-What did you fail to notice at the time?
-What could you have done differently?
-What got in the way of success?
-What, in your heart of hearts, really stopped you?

What will you do next time in view of these learnings?

What you learn from these questions will give you more in control in the future and a greater ability to overcome challenges when they happen. Remember, the more you learn, the more you earn.　

The next step is to write down all the things you want to achieve in 2011. At The Sales Consultancy we have a great goal setting tool for you in our January Tricks of the Trade. To guarantee recieving 'Tricks' in January, register here.

Wishing you all a great Xmas - together let's make 2011 a fantastic year!

Until next time

Leigh

Visit www.sales-consultancy.com for details of Sales Training, NLP Training, Coaching and Mentoring, Keynote Speaking and free reseources.

Leigh Ashton
Managing Director
The Sales Consultancy

Don't Leave email Marketing to Chance

As I write the rain is lashing down, it’s very dark in the office for 11.30 in the morning and I think we can safely say winter is upon us!

Of course the news is hardly brightening things up is it? The economic prospects are mixed and there’s real fear about the impact of spending cuts on jobs, housing benefit cuts, pensions and the like.

So we sales professionals have to be absolutely on top of our game. As Steven Covey puts it in his ‘Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ we have to ‘Sharpen Our Saw’! Let’s make sure we get it right in our email campaigns to give us the best chance of success.


Target your message
Make sure your message is entirely appropriate for those receiving it. Segment your database according to the niches you intend to appeal to. Use their buzzwords, their language, acknowledge their likely issues

Personalise
Personalise the opening greeting. If you can personalise the body of the email or the subject line then so much the better. You might need to modify the personalisation if you market to a very formal industry not accustomed to first names!

Create a subject line to grab attention
Everybody’s in box is full to bursting these days. You have a second to catch the eye of the reader, so the subject line is crucial. You will need to experiment here – the open rate will tell you how well your subject line performed. Keep the subject line short and snappy. Consider asking a question. You need to appeal to both positive and negative types so test both types of heading (i.e. positive ‘Ten great things you get with xyz’ and negative - ‘Avoid XYZ with these ten tips’.

Position Key Content at the Top
If your email is opened you’ve got to first base – but then have about 5 seconds to make an impact. So get your key message in quickly. Once again make sure you appeal to both those whose glass is half full and those who take it as half empty. This means positive statements about what they will get mixed with negative statements about what pain they will avoid by using you and your products.

Use ‘You’ Language
Don’t write ‘we can do this, we can do that etc’ Make sure your content revolves around ‘You’ (i.e. them!). For example, instead of ‘we design great websites’, use ‘if you’re looking for a great website’. Get into their map.

Include Powerful words
These can depend on the market you operate in, but research suggests some of the most powerful words in eshots are ‘You’, ‘Money’, ‘Save’, ‘Results’, ‘Discover’, ‘Proven’, ‘Guarantee’, ‘Now’, ‘Important’, ‘Solve’.

Incorporate a Clear Call to Action
What do you want them to do next? Invite them to do just that, in more than one place preferably. Telephone, go to website, register for free tips, whatever it is make sure the call to action is easy to find, easy to read and easy to do.

Add Testimonials
A quote from a satisfied customer or two always helps. Make sure you use the name of those giving the quote (ask their permission first).

Manage your Stats
Make sure you know the success rates of each email so you can compare results – crucial for improving ongoing effectiveness. Open rates, click through rates, bounce rates, unsubscribe rates are typical parameters. There are others too and you should choose those critical to your business.

Frequency
Don’t bombard your database with eshots. They will unsubscribe or just bin them or ignore them. Two or three times a month is sufficient in most cases.

Follow up
Contact those who open the email. Either ring them or at least make sure they get a follow up email which is a natural follow on from the previous one.

Leigh

10 Reasons Why Sales Managers Lose their Jobs

Watching The Apprentice last night I really didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Cry because if that’s typical of the standard of selling across the country then UK PLC has got a problem of no small proportions.

Why laugh then? Because if those sales skills demonstrated last night are typical, then I know my company will be expanding at a vast rate of knots as we turn sales frogs into princes.

Of course it probably (hopefully) isn’t typical of the nations selling skills. It’s TV, It’s Big Brother in suits, it’s not real life.

But you know I do worry about poor selling standards I see and am subjected to – and cringe at the lost conversions, lost revenues, lost profits that result.

After 14 years of The Sales Consultancy getting called into improve companies’ sales, experience suggests there’s a good chance your team could be off the standard required. That’s why I list below my 10 Reasons Why Sales Managers Lose Their Jobs. Check you and your team against these common mistakes in sales.

Nobody does it on purpose, everybody’s busy. Of course. But if you’re losing sales, you’re losing revenue, you’re losing profits. And you need to do something about it.

After all – it’s not the best time to be looking for work is it?

Check yourself and/or your team against these common mistakes...

Mistake No 1
Not having clear sales goals in the first place
Whether it’s a campaign, implementing an annual strategy, a given month, a week, a day a meeting , a cold call – there’s a distinct lack of goals and outcome focus. This means a lack of direction right from the start. Sorry – but if you don’t know what the ultimate aim is of all sales activity you carry out, how will you ever know if you’re on the right track?

Mistake No 2
Procrastination
People are reluctant to start taking the action they need to achieve their objective, whatever the scale of the goal they have set. You need to take ACTION right now. Not ‘I’ll just finish this other job’ or I’ll just tidy my desk first’ or ‘Oh there’s not enough time to ring that person tonight’. Things drift, get delayed and all the time the competitors are making progress on their goals! The key? – finding out why people procrastinate!

Mistake No 3
Poor presentations to potential customers and clients
A one way pitch from you is likely to work less and less these days. You might hit the target sometimes but often your words will not be engaging for them and in any case it’s too much of a one way communication from you. That’s not a connection, that’s a speech! There’s a way you can connect with EVERYONE you want to do business with. It’s easy to learn, massively effective and you need to know it.


Mistake No 4
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result
There’s often a distinct lack of new ideas at companies whose sales are stagnating or falling. Upon examination people are usually doing the same as before, but miraculously expecting a better result this time round. It’s not going to happen. The truth is the world of Sales and Marketing is changing faster than ever – leaving many companies behind. It’s your job to make sure your company keeps up.

Mistake No 5
Too much talking – not enough listening
Very common generally in business, extremely common in sales. Modern selling is not about pitching and overcoming objections, it’s about rapport and building connections in a whole new way. Watch your team during client and customer meetings – the chances are they’re doing most of the talking. Ouch! All that lost revenue! They should try listening more.

Mistake No 6
Not putting yourself in the customers/prospects shoes
It’s really easy to think about you, your company or how good your product or services are. That’s the issue, alongside making assumptions about the client and customer before the relationship begins. So no one bothers to find out what a customer or prospects REALLY wants next. Only when you truly understand what’s going on in their head, can you truly match it with your offering.

Mistake No 7
The wrong mindset
Many sales people dread cold calling, prospecting, power hours, whatever you want to call it. Result? Very ineffective calls of course. You need people who relish these calls. If you haven’t got them, you either need to change the people, or change the mindset. Change the mindset, it’s cheaper! And it’s achievable. How good would it be to have a team who looked forward to cold calling!

Mistake No 8
Not getting feedback from your customers
Hardly anyone gets proper feedback from customers. Sure the odd form gets filled in, but what are they really thinking?. LISTEN, LISTEN, LISTEN, then LISTEN some more. Your customers like you. That’s why they use you. Find out the reasons they use you then go find others that have the same buying criteria. Your customers will also tell you what you can do to make you even better to deal with. When was the last time you asked them?

Mistake No 9
The team lacks motivation
Or as sometimes happens some of them are motivated and some aren’t. Well they’re all different of course. What is one person’s fabulous incentive means nothing to their colleague. There’s a reason why that is, do you know it? Companies often have the wrong incentives, the wrong appraisals and the wrong reward systems and then are baffled why half the team are flat. This can be solved quickly and easily.

Mistake No 10
Not talking to the customers that stopped using you
When was the last time you talked with a lapsed customer? You absolutely must know the reason they went elsewhere or you’ll start losing other clients in exactly the same way. Many companies have no idea why particular clients stop using them.

Which of the above reasons are holding your sales back?.


Leigh Ashton has been successfully selling for 30 years and, having prospered through a recession or two, can help you get things moving at times like these. Leigh is not just a trainer, she still sells, networks and pitches for business. She makes it her business to keep businesses like yours up to date with the latest developments in sales and customer service.






Leigh Ashton

Are You Listening Out There

Listening

Listening is a vital skill that is often neglected and yet is crucial to your sales success.

Be aware of the five stages of effective listening and get into the habit of recognising and practising these stages;
1.Hearing – taking in the sound.
2.Listening – Really paying attention and trying to make sense of what you are hearing.
3.Understanding – Checking with the other person to make sure you have taken in what they said in the way they intended.
4.Acknowledging – letting the other person know you have heard and understood what they have said.
5.Responding – your response to what has been discussed.

On many occasions people go straight from stage 1 to stage 5! They jump to conclusions, miss information and leave the other person feeling misunderstood or ignored. Undoubtedly, ignoring stages 2 to 4 will cost you sales.

Learning to implement these stages naturally will rapidly enhance your listening skills and make you a much more effective sales professional.


Ask a question – then SHUT UP

When you ask open questions your client will go into dialogue to respond which gives you the opportunity to learn so much about them – and their issue.

•Forget yourself, focus on them
•Have no other agenda
•Have no external distractions ie incoming emails, other potentially interesting people in the room
•Let your client answer without interruption.
•Focus on listening 100% and not by your internal thoughts or dialogue.
•Thinking about the next question will stop you hearing useful information.
•The next question is easy when you listen – it comes naturally from your client’s response.

Remember - those golden nuggets of information you need to succeed may well be buried. Give them the time and attention they deserve.

•Listen to the choices of words they use – this is vital as you can tailor your own responses using the same or similar types of words.
•Tune in all your senses when listening.
•Listen with your heart – give everything to listening and you will gain greater levels of rapport and understanding with whoever you’re talking to.

When they have finished, leave a gap of a few seconds before you speak. On many occasions you will find the most crucial information follows after this short gap.

Enjoy practising the art of listening and enjoy the benefits to your business as you improve your listening skills.

Until next time

Leigh

Listening Skills - Further Reading

Why are Selling Techniques so bad?

Why are Selling Techniques so bad UK?

You will know by now I’m on a mission to improve the nation’s selling techniques. It seems every day I get collect more evidence of just how big a challenge that is going to be! On the other hand a bottom less pit of potential work it seems.

Take my colleague Jonathan’s example from last week. Accompanying his friend to a car showroom he was well and truly underwhelmed by the sales techniques demonstrated – or not demonstrated as it turned out. Within a minute of approaching Jonathan and his friend the sales guy was explaining how effective this £68K Landrover was at going up 45 degree hills off road – and that they should check out the YouTube video to see for themselves. He went on to list all the features of this vehicle that HE would have been impressed by. Now I’m not sure what they teach showroom sales people at landrover but it sure isn’t modern sales skills on this evidence. Maybe they should get inside one of those Delorien cars from ‘Back to The Future’ and got themselves back to 1960’s America where they would have more success!

The problem? Where to begin! Firstly he didn’t even know who was up for buying a vehicle, or what stage we might have been in our buying process. He didn’t know ANYTHING about us at all and more crucially did not have any inclination to find out. That meant he remained forever in his map of the world, which was all about off roading and boy’s stuff. He was doing all the talking and NO listening at all. If he had made the effort to find out our ‘maps’ then the knowledge gained would have led to a far more fruitful chat for all of us, more enjoyable too and more likely to produce a win win.

This contrasts with a much more encouraging – sadly rarer story of a friend who after 25 years working in a factory found himself out of work as textile manufacturing moved abroad. His friend was a car dealer and to his credit gave John a chance at his used car showroom. With no real training and no experience John made a fabulous impact at selling cars. How? He knew about and had studied NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and applied it in the car showroom. Despite being given second rate leads as returning customers went back to the longer serving salesmen, John soon rose up the sales league table. He did this by leaving his map of the world and making efforts to find out about the maps of those he spoke to. His genuine interest in their buying circumstances and needs led to natural open questions and great answers. He soon found out that it was often the quirky stuff that sold cars, the little things that you can only find out about when you have built genuine rapport with your prospect.

In one particular example John approached a whole family looking around the showroom. Through careful questioning and brilliant rapport building with ALL the family, John elicited that due to a family history of prangs when reversing their previous vehicles, the deciding factor was the bleeper that comes on when reversing this particular car, not that common at the time. Only by building a great relationship – and caring – did John find out this information. Result? A Sale, of course – and a fantastic letter two days later from the family stating this was the best buying experience they had ever had. His boss and friend said he hadn’t seen a customer letter like that in fourteen years in the business.

So – please please please leave out your needs and wants and make sure you find out their needs and wants. Genuinely care about the relationships you have with your customers and prospects, be curious, ask open questions, listen instead of preaching and you’ll be surprised what it will do for your sales results.

Do let me know your good and bad experiences of sales techniques. Let’s crack this together!

In the meantime – I think I might ring the Land Rover Training Manager!

Are You Charging Enough?

Hello everyone

I try to catch up on business and personal development reading whenever I can - and I sped through several old business sections of the Sunday Times this weekend. There's always some great snippets and tips amongst the news, stories and profiles. One particular feature always catches my eye, called 'How I Made it', which features business owners and their success stories.

What stands out amongst those profiles is their ability to bounce back, to be patient for success, to learn from the knocks, to learn from anything in fact!

The gentleman featured in one particular week was Ed Reeves, founder of Moneypenny, a telephone answering service that now has an annual turnover of £7m.

I'm going to quote a passage from the article...He returned to Britain at 23 and settled in London. TIS offered to pay him commission if he was able to sell outdated land line phones for £5 each. After finding no takers , he raised his price to £25 - and promptly sold a thousand. He made £20,000.

Now I hear this type of story so many times during my consultancy and keynote speaking engagements. What then do you think of the fees you are charging? Are the prices you're charging down to your 'stuff' around your perception of the value of your work, rather than what the market thinks your worth?

There's a thought.

For those of us charging by the hour or day, remember the fee is not for your time only. Your customers are paying for your specialist knowledge - specialist knowledge you have that they don't have. They are paying for your acumen acquired through the qualifications you gained, the experience you've built up, for your commitment to your chosen craft, for the personal development you have put in.

Remember that when you next tell a client or potential client your fees.

Until next time

Leigh

Sales is not about Selling

Hi everyone

What does that mean - Selling is not about selling? It means simply the art of selling has moved on from the 'always be closing', 'sell anything to anyone and to hell with the consequences' era.

My thesaurus says selling is about 'persuading someone to buy'. Persuading? Not in my book. No one should be 'persuading' anyone to buy. For me selling is a two way process of questions and answers, information sharing, finding common ground between buyer needs and the product - and the buyer ultimately making a decision based on the match of the product NOT how persuasive the sales person was.

The sales person will ultimately be successful more often that not when they truly understand the client's perspective. When they understand that every buyer is different, they can then drop the standard sales pitch and do some proper selling - where the welfare of the client is paramount.

Consider most car sales people. They have their speech ready and waste no time in delivering it - itemising the spec of the car, its top speed, mpg etc the list goes on. They have no idea about me, my previous experiences, my previous cars, my car buying motivation, where I am in the purchasing cycle, nothing. They're in their own map and assume that if they throw everything and the kitchen sink into their pitch, enough will hit the target and I'll buy the car. Right? Wrong!

The right way would be for the sales person to acknowledge that, though themselves might be speed junkies, they appreciate that only a relatively small proportion of car buyers are. By finding out about someone's car buying map they would quickly ascertain that space is needed for the children, extra body strength for safety and security, superb in car entertainment for the family as they take lots of long journeys together. Oh and what about the son who is 6'4'' tall at 17 years old so needs space in the back. I could go on but the message to all sales people is - please realise everyone of your potential customers will be different in many ways. Just acknowledging that will give you some empathy with the customer you would not have had previously

Sales is a massive subject and what I have touched upon today is a very small although significant area of selling. If you would like regular sales tips then please register for our Tricks of The Trade eshots and we'll send you sales and marketing tips directly to your inbox. Click here to register.

In the meantime enjoy your day and remember - less persuading, more selling please!

Until next time

Leigh

Are Your Fees High Enough?

Hi everyone

Midweek - Are you half way through your goals for the week? A challenge isn't it?

I try to catch up on business, sales and personal development reading whenever I can - and I sped through several 'Business' sections of The Sunday Times last weekend. There's always some great snippets of tips amongst the news, stories and profiles. One particular feature always catches my eye, called 'How I made It' which features business owners' success stories.

The thing that stands out the most in those profiled is their ability to bounce back, to be patient for success, to learn from the knocks, to learn from anything in fact!

The guy featured in one particualr week was Ed Reeves, founder of Moneypenny, a telephone answering service that has annual turnover of £7m.

I going to quote a passage from the article now... 'He returned to Britain at 23 and settled in London. TIS offered to pay him commission if he was able to sell outdated land line phones for £5 each. After finding no takers, he raised the price to £25 - and promptly sold a thousand. He made £20,000'

I hear this type of thing so many times. So - are the prices you are charging down to your 'stuff' rather than what the market thinks you're worth?. Now there's a thought.

Until next time.

Leigh

Have you got your Red Dot?

Good morning sales team

Well well well. All morning I keep hearing on the radio about the golfer Louis Oosthuizen and his wonderful winning weekend at the British Open Golf Championship. This morning he, and others, have been talking non stop about the little red dot on his glove. He presses the dot at the precise moment he needs to garner maximum resources and get maximum concentration.

This of course is the classic NLP technique called 'Anchoring' - where one can lock in a required state and instantly recall that state by 'setting off' their anchor.

Anchoring can be an extremely powerful technique in sales. Whether you're doing a presentation, sales pitch, cold calling, the list is endless, setting up an anchor and recalling it on cue could be the missing link in your tool kit.

If you want to know more about NLP and Anchoring, click the link or get in touch and I'll be happy to talk about this more.

Passion and Perspective!

Hello Everyone and welcome to what I hope is going to be a fabulous Friday.

I watched Question Time last night. It was so fascinating to see passions running high. Passion is a pre-requisite for sales success. If you don't have passion in your job right now, you need to get it - or get out! Winners are passionate. You can get by without passion. With it you can do anything!

Listening to audience and panellist comments also made me realise the differing perspectives available on a given subject. At The Sales Consultancy we had an 'off-site' meeting yesterday to look for new perspectives on how to prosper in challenging economic times. We came away with about twenty ideas to follow up on. So think how you can look at your sales challenges from a different perspective.

Finally thanks to all those who came to our Social Media Workshop on Wednesday morning. It was great to hear everyone's perspective (that word again) and help them understand the potential of these fabulous social media opportunities.

Leigh

Spreading the word

Well Happy Mondays to you all!! Now there's a band from the past.

I do hope you had a fabulous weekend. There's no point in working hard if you can't play hard!. And many congratulations to Spain, world cup winners. This proves that a combination of team work and high skill levels can get you anywhere!

Flexibility too. A group of football players able to adapt to the situation. There are definite parallels with business here. I noticed from the Sunday Times that The Body Shop, founded by one of my heroines Anita Roddick of course, is to greatly expand its Body Shop at Home division. It will be adding a further 3500 consultants to the current 4000. The rumours are that it's reducing its high street presence. Either way, for me this shows an ability to read the market and adjust direction in order to thrive. We can all learn from that.

Don't forget we have our Getting Started in Social Media Workshop this coming Wednesday. Maria has sent reminders out this morning as we have a couple of slots available. Click below for details and to book.

In the meantime have a great week.

Leigh

http://http://www.eventelephant.com/gettingstartedwithsocialmedia

Facebook - Why bother?

Good morning...
Occasionally I detect a divide in the country over social media in general and Facebook/Twitter in particular. It seems half the nation has embraced it, love it, use it, for pleasure and in their business environments.
The other half won't go near it! And, when the conversation gets round to it, as it inevitable does, they dismiss it and profess never to use it.
As someone who has full embraced many social media platforms over the past few years I am intrigued by why people dismiss it. Is it a technology phobia? Is it the occasional bad publicity that arises from these rare cases of misuse? Who knows.
One thing I'm convinced of - as a business tool social media should be a vital cog in your marketing wheel. Your business type will dictate the precise role social media plays in getting you new contacts and business, but for me, you need a social media presence at some level, whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Ecademy, LinkedIn etc.
In response to requests amongst my customers and contacts we are holding a morning workshop 'Getting Started with Social Media' next Wednesday 14th July. It's all about taking those first steps to having social media contribute to your marketing efforts and ultimately your profits. It would be great to see you there and we have a few slots left - call 020 7903 5426 for more details or to reserve your space.
In the meantime have a great day!
Leigh

Hold your nerve - There's loads of business out there

Hi everyone.



Well we're mid way through the week so I hope you are halfway to the goals you set for the week!



There's lots of talk at the moment about 'the cuts'. It reminds me of the 80's. True, public spending is going to fall and private households are looking more closely at their budgets BUT please, can we put this into perspective?



If you take into account the actual economic figures, rather than the emotional newspaper headlines, you'll find that, for every £100 spent within the economy at the peak of September 2007, there's £95 being spent now. For me that's still a heck of a lot of business to be grabbed.



So - rather than curl up and wait for this recession to end, get out there and start grabbing some of those batches of £95!! If you don't, plenty of others will.



Until next time



Leigh

My Goodness - it's been a long time....

Sorry If you've been checking our blog and seen nothing new for a while! So much has been going on since we were last here!!

Leigh is involved in so many more things now - so of you want to find out more about social media or you need a Keynote speaker then give us a call on 020 7903 5426.

Enjoy the sunshine!

See you soon - promise!

Maria

Busy, Busy, Busy

Hello to you all

Is everyone in the Christmas spirit yet? Or have you just got the Christmas spirit in you ;o)

Well - I rightly predicted that I would be running around like a lunatic in my last blog. Last night I was wrapping presents for teachers at 10pm - though I did have a glass or two of port at the same time!!!!

Roll on Friday - it's our last day at the office!!! And the children will be off school so at least our routine can slow down a little.

Hope you have had time to look back at 2009 and be grateful for the good things - I've already started some of my resolutions for next year - just like getting into training for a big event.

Enjoy the festivities!

Maria

The countdown has started.....

Hello

Well - advent has started - the countdown to Christmas.

Are you all excited???

I always use this time to reflect over the year, to think about what I want to achieve next year and be grateful for the good things in my life.

I also use this time to RUN ABOUT LIKE A LUNATIC GETTING ORGANISED FOR THE BIG DAY!!!!

So whatever you use Advent for...Enjoy!

Maria x

Well hello to you on this glorious November day (well it is a bit windy though at least the sun is shining!!!)

Have you seen Leigh's new You Tube Video - you can check it out here

Until next time

Maria x

Busy, busy, busy

Well our resident expert, Leigh Ashton, has been busy, busy, busy....so that means we've all been busy!!!!!

Check out what we've been up to on you tube, twitter, facebook and slideshare to name but a few.

Enjoy!

Maria

what's new??

Hello there
Things have been very hectic here...delivering lots of training and creating online media stuff.
Have got 2 video's on You Tube, 2 presentations on Slide Share, a fan page on Facebook...it's been loads of fun and a huge amount of learning.
If you want to check out our new activity go to our website and all the links are at the top of each page.
You'll find it here.
Wishing you all a great weekend.

Leigh x

catch up

Hello there
So sorry...it's been ages since I wrote.
Things have been a little crazy here...and very exciting with lot's of new stuff going on.
What recession I say.
Mind you...we have changed lots of our strategies this year to keep in line with what people want.
I've found that the companies experiencing a drop in sales are still using the same techniques as they were 18 months ago.
Things are changing so fast that it's so unlikely that these techniques would work in this current climate.
If you want to chat about how you can change to get more results then do get in touch or visit our website here.

On a more personal note...WE GOT OUR TICKETS TO GLASTO 2010!!!!!!!!!!
You can follow our Glasto journey here.
Take care.

Leigh x

Do what you love!

Hello there

Met the most amazing people yesterday at my training session 'Healing your Sales with NLP'. I'm so blessed to be doing what I love and to meet such great people in the process. If you're not in a job that you love...check this out
Wouldn't it be brilliant if everybody could wake up thinking...yeehah another exciting day at work!!!!

Till next time.

Leigh x

Enjoying the Good Stuff

Hello there
Hope you all had a great Bank Holiday weekend.
Things seem to be back to normal now...traffic back to it's usual crawl and cold winds making it chilly..not to mention the rain!!!!
I went to the Edinburgh Fringe last week and had an excellent time.
Saw some stand up, theatre, music and dance...and I thought Edinburgh was beautiful. The architecture is amazing and the people are lovely.
Hope you're all doing stuff that brings you joy.
If you want more joy check out my other website here for ideas on how to get more of what you want.
Take care
Leigh

Sunshine

Hello there
Hope you're all well.
Isn't it great to have had a hot and sunny weekend.
I noticed people walking around being more cheerful and definitely more smiley.
Makes me wonder how we can capture it somehow to use when it's cold, wet and grey.
I've got my own ways...get in touch if you're interested.
Be great to hear yours too.
Keep smiling.

Leigh x

If you need some help with your sales...

Hi all
Want to let you know about a great half day sales workshop I'm running especially for business owners and sales professionals.
Avoid the Top Ten Biggest Sales Mistakes will give you an introduction to how NLP can transform your sales.
There's a networking lunch to follow so you can try out your new skills...and all for £149 + VAT.
Nearly forgot...it's on the 30th September.
Hope you can make it.
Leigh x

Happy Weekends

Hello there

What a fab weekend. The sun shone, the music played, the pimms flowed and fun was had by all.
Went to a lovely Summer Ball in a vanue on the River Thames...what a great way to spend a hot summer evening.

What with some retail therapy yesterday...I guess I had the perfect weekend.

Hope you did too.

Leigh x

Summer sun

Well - the summer holidays are upon us - and so is the rain.... lets not let that spoil our fun!!!

I think we sometimes forget that we have so much going on around us and end up doing nothing.

You could go to this website and check out things to do http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/

or why not do something that costs nothing - visit the Tate, go to the park with a bottle of wine (on one of the drier days) or vist the Natural History Museum - they have a great animatronic dinosaur that worth a peek!!!!!

Just do something different and see how it feels - I'm off to have a picnic in my front room!

happy holidays!!

Maria

NLP Awakening

Hi all
I'm getting so much interest in NLP at the moment.
People are beginning to realise that NLP can significantly increase sales success.
It's such a buzz to speak to people that are excited by something new and fresh....and the prospect of actually achieving the success they really want.
Exciting times!!!!
Check out NLP soon by visiting my other website www.designyourfuture.co.uk
Take care.
Leigh x

Glasto 2009 Update

I've been so busy since I got back from Glasto...my little feet haven't touched the ground ;-)
Glasto was amazing this year.
My highlights being lot's of sunshine, the park, chilling out with great people, Kasabian, Tom Jones, Prodigy and of course the great Rolf Harris. Madness and Ray Davies were also great.
It seemed to be much noisier this year so got even less sleep than I normally do. It took me a week to recover and feel like my pre Glasto self...and I'm still in the process of cleaning the camping stuff. Nearly there with just the tent to do.
It may take time before the event to get ready....and time after the event to get back to normal...BUT it's the best event and I wouldn't miss it!
Till next time.
Leigh x

FREE Sales Training Taster

Wow - we have had such an amazing response to our Free Sales Training Taster - so thanks to all who have responded so far. We still have some spaces left so get in touch if you want one to have your name on it.

It's not often you get something for nothing - and with no strings attached - so if you want to see what benefits others have got from our training without paying for it then now is your chance.

Contact us on 020 7538 0000 or email on maria@sales-consultancy.com to find out more.

Maria

Summertime!

Hello there

the sun is shining and isn't it amazing what an effect it has on everybody! Happiness is everywhere - roll on the sunshine I say!

What is it about the weather that gives it such a control over us? I believe it is a choice, we could be this happy all the time if we choose to be.....

Although - the sun is great and I hope that it stays for a really long time!!!!!

Keep putting on that factor 30 - it's hot, hot, hot.

Maria x

Glasto 2009

Hello there
No matter how many times I go to Glastonbury, I still get soooooo excited as it gets closer.
I'll be leaving London on Wednesday morning to be sure that I enjoy every possible moment that I can...and what a line up this year.
It's so much more than just a festival.
Yes there's music...yes there's entertainment and yes there's the greatest festival food on the planet!
What does it for me is the fact that 170 000 people are there to have a great time. Everyone is happy and lovely to eachother...and that to me is what Glastonbury is all about.
For those of you that are lucky enough to have a ticket, I look forward to sharing the vibe with you and for those of you that haven't...maybe you can get a sense of it on the TV.
Here's to the best Glasto yet.

Leigh x

Pims o'clock

Well - here we are - fast approaching another Bank holiday!!! YIPPEE!!

I, for one, am looking forward to it very much. In these times of uncertainty you really do have to put a lot more effort in to work so that you are still achieving what you want. So go on - push yourself and see how much more you can do to get yourself closer to your targets.

Then - come Friday at 5pm (6pm at the latest!) it will be pimms o'clock for us all.

Hope the sun is shining where you are!

Maria

FREE Sales Training Taster

Hello there
We've decided to run a FREE sales workshop for businesses in London with 50+ employees as a way of giving them a really positive experience and a taster of what is possible with our training approach.
A great way of connecting with no risk to the company at all...and they will leave with some really practical strategies to increase their sales.
We'll be marketing it very soon so do look out for it and please direct any companies you know to www.sales-consultancy.com
Wishing you all a great May. Remember, great things happen when you take ACTION...so be sure to take loads of positive ACTION towards the things you really want.
Take care.
Leigh

A great way to relax!

Hi all
It's been a busy time here at The Sales Consultancy. Lots of companies wanting to know how to use NLP in generating more sales...good stuff!
Decided I deserved a relaxing day, so off I went to The Sanctuary in Covent Garden.
It's designed so the only thing you can do there is chill out...the most you can do is have a swim...or get the credit card out for some retail therapy in their little shop.
It's the ultimate in pampering....spent time in the sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, had a fab massage, a delicious lunch, did a relaxation session in the sleep retreat and generally lounged around.
For all you girlies out there....go do it....it's a wonderful experience.
For you boys....send your girlies there....they will love it.
Have fun.
Leigh x

Where did that weekend go?

Hope you had a fab Easter.
Four days went so quickly...mind you I did make the most of it.
Did some walking, socialising with friends and family, unpacking boxes, shopping and went to see the film about Brian Clough...not surprising really that it went so quickly ;-)
The film by the way is excellent and you don't need to be into football to appreciate it.
Have a great week...hope you have lot's of good things happening.
Take care.
Leigh x

Happy Easter

Wishing you all a very happy easter....be sure to plan plenty of fun....and easter eggs!!!

Leigh x

don't you just love the weekend!!!!

I just love the weekend....even if I'm working.
Tomorrow I'm delivering a workshop called 'How to be successful in relationships'.
It's based on NLP concepts and techniques and will be lots of fun I'm sure.
If you're not sure what NLP is, check out my other website www.designyourfuture.co.uk
Sunday is going to be a glorious day so let's all get out in the sunshine and warm our souls.
Have fun.
Leigh x